Our guest today is Ariana Thacker, founder of Conscience VC. Conscience invests into early-stage & science-led consumer startups. We’re going to discuss why science-led consumer startups is contrarian in itself, what are real tangible defensible moats, and her approach to fundraising her first fund.

Why did you want to break into VC?
Why did you decide to start your own fund?
What was the fundraising process like?
How do you partner with founders?
What’s your approach to portfolio construction and fund construction? I.e. are you more concentrated or less concentrated, what are your Gen-Z apprentices role within the fund / scout program
What do you mean by the intersection of deep tech and consumer?
How do you think about defensible competitive advantages?
Walk us through why you invested in Nimbus or gained conviction?
How far along does a founder need to be in order for you to be at your stage?
Are there specific categories that you mostly focus on?

3 buckets

What are some of the challenges investing in deeptech? Why do alot of fund managers stay away?
What’s your approach to sourcing opportunities?

Go through multi pronged approach

What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one book that has inspired you professionally?

4 agreements - dont personally, dont make assumptions, always do your best, be impeccable with your word

Disciplined entrepreneurship ->

What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?

Ariana Thacker (Conscience VC) - What it means to invest in deep tech x consumer, How she raised her first VC fund, and Her definition of a moat